Reviews

2015

Discussion paper: Facilitating the participation of children in Family Law processes, Felicity Bell, Lismore: Southern Cross University, 2015
This discussion paper reviews the research literature on children's participation in family related proceedings and specifically, children's relationship with their lawyers in those proceedings. This discussion paper was prepared as part of a larger research project, Facilitating the Participation of Children in Family Law Processes, being conducted by the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University in partnership with Legal Aid NSW.

2014

Reaching in by joining-up, an evaluation of the legal assistance partnership between Legal Aid NSW and Settlement Services International (SSI).
Hugh M McDonald, Suzie Forell, Zhigang Wei and Sarah Williams, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 2014

In 2013 Legal Aid NSW and Settlement Services International entered into a partnership to provide legal services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who are disadvantaged. The SSI Partnership provides family, immigration and other civil law outreach services to CALD communities across the Sydney metropolitan area, Illawarra and Newcastle. The evaluation of the first year of the SSI Partnership was conducted by the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales and funded by Legal Aid NSW. The report sets out the findings from the evaluation.

This report is the second part of a two stage evaluation of outreach services at Legal Aid NSW. The Stage 1 report provided a statistical overview of Legal Aid NSW outreach services between 2010 and 2012. This second report focussed on a case study of the Mid North Coast region of NSW and involved interview with lawyers and host agencies, outreach managers and staff from Legal Aid NSW. The report draws upon the experiences of lawyers in providing outreach legal services, particularly the challenges faced and lessons learned with the aim of contributing to the ongoing development of best practice in outreach at Legal Aid NSW.

Review of the Legal Aid NSW Regional Outreach Clinic Program (ROCP), August 2013The review of the Legal Aid NSW Regional Outreach Clinic Program (ROCP) conducted during February - June 2013 was requested by the CEO Legal Aid NSW to explore the progress and effectiveness of the program, and to make recommendations regarding its improvement.

This report provides an overview of advice and minor assistance outreach services provided by Legal Aid NSW. There has been an 84% increase in advice and minor assistance provided through outreach between 2010 and 2012. As of January 2013 there were 158 outreach clinics, and nearly 80% of these are located in rural and regional NSW. 13% of all outreach assistance provided in 2012 was to Aboriginal clients, compared to 6.3% for in-office services; and 58% of outreach services were provided to people on Centrelink benefits compared to 49% of in-office advice and minor assistance services. To find a Legal Aid NSW outreach service, go to Find a Legal Aid service.

High service users at Legal Aid NSW: profiling the 50 highest users of legal aid services, Pia van de Zandt and Tristan Webb, Legal Aid NSW, June 2013
This Legal Aid NSW study of the 50 highest users of legal aid services found that 80% of high users of legal aid services were children and young people who were 19 years and under. It found that 82% of high service users had their first contact with Legal Aid NSW by the time they were 14 years old. There appeared to be a strong relationship between high legal aid service use and experiencing abuse or neglect at home. Nearly half of all high service users (46%) had spent time in out-of-home care, more than half (58%) had experienced homelessness and almost (94%) had spent time in a juvenile detention centre. Eighty two per cent of high service users had, at one time, been excluded, suspended or expelled from school. (pdf 490KB)

Client Satisfaction Survey 2013, Taverner Research, 2013
This is a summary of the results of a client satisfaction survey conducted between March and May 2013, measuring satisfaction with advice and minor assistance services across the criminal, civil and family law practices. The Report shows an overall client satisfaction rate of 91.5%, compared with 89.5% in the 2011 survey. (pdf 244KB)

ADVO Defendant Pilot Mount Druitt Local Court, Erin Gough, June 2013 released February 2013The review evaluates the pilot conducted at Mount Druitt Local Court in 2011-2012. The aim of the pilot was to test the proposition that providing holistic minor assistance and duty representation to defendants in AVO matters reduces future legal problems in crime, civil and family law. (pdf 2.6MB)

Evaluation of the new Family Law Early Intervention Unit Duty Lawyer Service at Legal Aid NSW, released February 2013This report was undertaken by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW. The Service provides short, sharp and timely intervention for disadvantaged families at the Sydney, Parramatta and Newcastle Family Court registries. The report found that the service is assisting more people to settle their matter earlier – often outside of court. (pdf 1.6MB)

2012

Evaluation of the legal component of the Riverina Homelessness Interagency Project & Reaching Home Newcastle, Matrix on Board, Dec 2012This report describes and assesses the effectiveness of the legal assistance provided by Legal Aid NSW as part of two cross-agency homelessness projects. It identifies good practice principles that can inform the future development of integrated legal services. (pdf 2.3MB)

Evaluation of the CLSD Program Final Report, August 2012
The 2012 evaluation of the CLSD Program was undertaken by Penny Ryan and Kitty Ray, Social Policy & Evaluation Consultants. The Evaluation sought to assess the effectiveness of the CLSD model and to provide recommendations as to how the program could best continue to develop. (pdf 556 KB)

2011

The Drift from Care to Crime: a Legal Aid NSW issues paper, Erin Gough, October 2011
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to a concerning trend that has been observed by the Children's Legal Service: the criminalisation of children who live in out-of-home care. (pdf 107KB)

Managing mortgage stress: an evaluation of the Legal Aid NSW and Consumer Credit Legal Centre Mortgage Hardship Service, Suzie Forell and Michael Cain, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 2011
The Mortgage Hardship Service provides legal assistance and financial counselling to people experiencing mortgage stress to assist them to save their home or minimise loss and ensuring outcomes favourable to the borrower. The results of this evaluation indicate that the Mortgage Hardship Service continues to represent a relevant and important legal service to safeguard the interests of people who experience mortgage stress.

Client Satisfaction Survey Report, Taverner Research, 2011
This is a summary of the results of a client satisfaction survey conducted between May and June 2011, measuring satisfaction with advice and minor assistance services across the criminal, civil and family law practices. (pdf 350KB)

Centrelink prosecutions at the employment/benefit nexus: a Case Study of Wollongong by Freda Hui, Lee Moerman & Kathy Rudkin, University of Wollongong, 2011This report, conducted by the University of Wollongong in conjunction with the Wollongong office of Legal Aid NSW, looks at the financial costs of prosecuting social security fraud. (pdf 2.78MB)

2010

Legal Aid NSW Sydney Civil Advice Service Review, Sue Scott, 2010
This review of the Sydney Central Civil Law Advice Service at Legal Aid NSW makes recommendations on ways to improve the service and reduce waiting times. (pdf 825KB)

2009

Older Person's Legal Service Review, Robyn Gray, 2009
This review of the Older Person's Legal Service examines how it meets its aims of addressing the legal needs of older people in NSW. (pdf 1.7MB)

Regional Solicitor Program Review 2008 & 2009 - Urbis
The 2009 review of the Regional Solicitor Program (RSP) examined the extent to which the program improved the availability and accessibility of Legal Aid NSW services to disadvantaged clients living in rural, regional and remote NSW. (pdf 509KB)

2008

Regional Solicitor Program Review 2008 & 2009 - Urbis
The 2008 review of the Regional Solicitor Program (RSP) examined the extent to which the program improved the availability and accessibility of Legal Aid NSW services to disadvantaged clients living in rural, regional and remote NSW. (pdf 509KB)

Legal Aid NSW Services to People in Domestic Violence Situations, Louise Blazejowska, 2008
The report examines the legal consequences of domestic violence and the legal needs arising from these consequences, how Legal Aid NSW responds to people in domestic violence situations and how these responses could be improved. (pdf 3.5MB)

Family and Civil Law Needs of Aboriginal People in NSW, Professor Chris Cuneen, 2008
This report on the Family and Civil Law Needs of Aboriginal People in NSW reveals significant unmet need in family and civil law and provides recommendations for how Legal Aid NSW can improve its services. (pdf 2.8MB)

Client Assessment and Referral (CAR) Review, Michelle Crowther, 2008
This review of CARs examined how it supported the criminal, family and civil law in-house practices of Legal Aid NSW (pdf 420KB)